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This blog started out as a cooking website: Jo's Icelandic Recipes. It had long since gone off line and been replaced by this blog. You will find recipes, Icelandic foodstuffs, food culture and history here.
Please post questions under the appropriate recipe. If there is an Icelandic recipe you're looking for, you can either leave a comment or email me (see sidebar) with a request and I'll see what I can do.
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Skyr vs. traditional skyr

I’ve just
been reading an interesting report by Matís, an Icelandic biotech R&D
institute, about skyr.

They make a distinction between modern skyr and
traditional skyr and one of the conclusions they come to is that MS Skyr is not
traditional because it deviates from the traditional methods of making skyr.

(I have
already posted a recipe for skyr, which may be referred to for one
traditional method).

If you want
to try the real thing, the report mentions that KEA and Bíóbú both make skyr
with (modernised) traditional methods. Their products are available from supermarkets.

In addition you can also buy traditional
skyr from a couple of farms that participate in the Beint frá Býli movement
(Farm Food Direct), and from specialised shops (I'm sure you can buy it from Frú Lauga, for example).

I'm planning to read the report in more depth and may post a digest of the findings.

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Updated 20. december 2013 to include kale. It's not a necessary ingredient, but it will add a lovely flavour note to the soup.

This is a classic Icelandic dish, a relative of Irish stew. There is a recipe for this soup in most Icelandic homes. No two are the same, and most are not really recipes, but general guidelines. It is very hard to put down a measured recipe, since the ingredients available will vary, and so will the taste, mood and inclination of the cook! The following is one variation, which I have tried to make as authentic as possible. The measurements are not meant to be taken too seriously, and should be varied according to taste and availability of ingredients. I have marked the absolutely necessary ingredients with an asterisk (*). These are only necessary for authenticity – part of the fun is coming up with your own preferred recipe.